Faces of Change
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Composed
- 1992
- Publisher
- Canadian Music Centre (unpublished, printed by CMC), RSN 13577, call no. MI 3213 C775fa
Purchase or download
About this piece
Miriam Mahood commissioned Faces of Change from Cheryl Cooney in 1992, with help from Yamaha Pianos and Organs Ltd., for the Canadian tour she made with Cornelius Herrmann that year, and Cooney dedicated it to her. Marked 'deliberate, and intense', it opens with sharp, widely spaced cello gestures answered by sweeping piano runs. Along the way come a mocking section marked spöttisch, passages to be played 'peacefully', and a lighter one 'with less deliberation', before the opening tempo returns for a loud close.
Technical overview
A single atonal movement at eighth note = 100 that changes meter constantly among 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and 5/4. The cello part moves between bass, tenor and treble clef with wide leaps, triplet and dotted figures, fast accented sixteenths and dynamics from p to ff. There are many rests while the piano carries the music, so secure counting and quick re-entries matter.
Technical focus
- Accidentals
- Collaboration with Piano
- Dotted Rhythms
- Dynamics
- Meter Changes
- Shifting
- Tempo Changes
- Tenor Clef
- Treble Clef
- Triplets